


Giving Him the Slip

by quiet__tiger



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Drama, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 06:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10713942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiet__tiger/pseuds/quiet__tiger
Summary: He totally escaped the Batman. Or so he thinks.





	Giving Him the Slip

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Hunt."
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal 23rd-Jul-2009.

Louie crouched behind a stack of crates until his knees ached, then waited another few minutes before crawling around the crates to the door. He stayed low and kept to the shadows, and doubled back around the streets several times. He couldn’t risk being followed.

He finally made it back to the hideout in the middle of the night, his evening trip to the store interrupted by that purse he had to snatch, and then he had to duck the Batman. His friends greeted him with a curious gaze, then went back to their cards. “I made it back, guys. The Batman almost got me, but I lost him.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow, but didn’t look at him. “What d’ya mean, Louie?”

“I grabbed a purse off a lady outside the store, but before I got too far away the Batman found me. He chased me but I gave ‘im the slip.”

Dealing more cards, Donnie huffed, “Nobody gives the Batman the slip.”

“Well, I did! I hid in the alley, then the warehouse, then went in circles. Why do you think I’m so late?”

Grunting as he folded his cards, Marco pointed out, “You got lost going to your own house once.”

“I was drunk! And it was dark!”

“Whatever, man.”

“Well, you don’t see the Batman here, do ya?”

Raking in a handful of chips, Eddie said, “None of us saw him at all. What makes y’think you’re so important that he’d try to stop ya and follow you?”

“I had that woman’s purse!”

“Where is it now?”

Louie frowned. “I dropped it so I could run.”

Groaning at his cards before affecting a smile, Donnie said, “So you got nothin’ but a story. Did you even get the snacks?”

“No… The purse got in the way.” Louie’s friends waved him off, and he sat in the corner, dejected. Well, screw ‘em. He knew he had taken on the Batman and won. If they didn’t want to believe him, they didn’t have to. And how much fun was poker with only three guys, anyway?

~*~

Batman stood on the roof, watching the small ring of muggers through the filthy, cracked skylight. What a sad group of young men. Even sadder was how successful they’d been at stealing from people. When he’d recognized Louis King, Batman knew it was his chance to follow him to the hideout he shared with the other men.

It hadn’t been easy, of course. He’d had to return the purse to the woman Louis had stolen it from. Then he had to find him again. For some reason he was skulking through a particularly dirty alley, as if creeping around would make him _less_ conspicuous.

Whatever he crawled through certainly made him easier to track _olfactorily._

The hardest part had actually been waiting for Louis to get the hell out of the warehouse. Did he think Batman wouldn’t wait? Did he think he had successfully lost him?

Rather pathetic, really.

Kind of like their hideout. At least the Joker decorated.

Batman waited until Marco Williams dealt another round of cards, then he crashed through the skylight. Twenty-four seconds later all four miscreants were restrained in zip strips and alternately glaring at him and Louis.

Donald Thompson spat on the floor, his saliva the apparent conduit for his anger. “Told you, Louie. Nobody gives the Batman the slip.”

Edward Mann jerked his head around. “Where’d he go?”

“Who?”

“The Batman, you brick head!”

Wiggling in his binding, Louis answered, “He’s gone. Let’s go find him and show ‘im we don’t need to take his crap.”

“Shut _up_ , Louie. This is all your fault.” Marco attempted to kick him.

“All y’all shut up. Maybe we can get away.” Edward tried to get to his feet, then fell backwards.

Watching them through the broken skylight, Batman permitted himself a small smile. That this group had eluded him as long as it had was an embarrassment to his mission, but it wasn’t as if these guys were high on his list, either.

When the police showed up, Batman swung to the next building. While he enjoyed the quiet night, he had more challenging villains to track and catch, not that Louis and his friends didn’t need to be brought to justice. It was just nice to take a break from the Arkham inmates sometimes.


End file.
